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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24179488">Pretty Poison</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddierose/pseuds/maddierose'>maddierose</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angry Sex, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Hate Sex, Rough Sex, Sexual Tension</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:13:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24179488</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddierose/pseuds/maddierose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tori Cain is a reformed villain, but the past always comes back to bite. The death of Reginald Hargreeves leads her back into the chaotic life she wanted to leave behind. Unfortunately, it also draws her back into her complicated love-hate relationship with Diego Hargreeves…something else she thought she'd buried. Diego/OC.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Diego Hargreeves/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I Know Your Secrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Warnings: none</strong>
</p><p>Tori Cain had never much been a stickler for rituals, but Friday morning coffees at <em>Spill The Beans</em> with Jillian Thomas were non-negotiable. There was something satisfying about the routine – the same table by the window, watching the cars and buses whizz by. The same medium mocha with one sugar, the ceramic mug warm beneath the tips of her fingers.</p><p>Today’s session, like most, began with Jill’s disastrous latest Tinder date. Although Jill and Tori were roommates as well as best friends, renting out an apartment owned by Jill’s wealthy uncle, Jill tactfully avoided bringing men home. It was less to do with how she thought Tori would react to them, and more to do with home they might react to Tori.</p><p>“…and all he did was talk about rugby. Like, do I look like I care about rugby?” Jill placed her cappuccino down with a huff.</p><p>She definitely didn’t. Jill and Tori were polar opposites in almost every way, including in appearance – Jill was a tall and willowy brunette, while Tori was a petite blonde. No one would really look twice at Tori when Jill was in the room, and that was honestly the way she liked it. Looking closely meant someone might discover her secret.</p><p>Tori Cain had been born on October 1, 1989, to one of the 43 women who’d not been pregnant at the beginning of the day. Needless to say, 22-year-old Bella Cain had been absolutely stunned when she had given birth to Tori. Unlike the famed Umbrella Academy, Tori had not been adopted by Reginald Hargreeves. She’d lived with her mum and Bella’s boyfriend, Fabrizio Martelli, until they split when Tori had been eight years old.</p><p>One would have thought Bella would’ve taken Tori with her, but she was a bit over being a parent by that point, and Fabrizio saw potential in Tori that her mum never did. It was only later that Tori would discover what a dangerous man her stepfather was, and by that point, she was already in too deep.</p><p>“So you won’t be going for a second date?” Tori asked, arching her eyebrows innocently and taking a sip of her mocha.</p><p>Over the three years she’d been living with Jill, she’d perfected the art of tuning in and out of her best friend’s monologues at the correct moment.</p><p>“Definitely not.” Jill tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder, examining her nails. “He was just boring, and the sex wasn’t even good.”</p><p>“At least you’re getting laid,” Tori teased, a half-smile playing about her lips. She always lamented her lack of a love life to Jill, but the truth was a lot more complicated. Yet another secret she couldn’t disclose to her best friend.</p><p>“That guy is staring at you,” Jill pointed out, looking at someone over Tori’s shoulder.</p><p>Tori followed the line of Jill’s gaze to a dark-haired man at the counter ordering a takeaway latte. He turned and winked at her, and Tori’s blood boiled as recognition dawned upon her. Her eyes narrowed, before she turned to Jill and stumbled over a pathetic excuse to leave the café.</p><p>“Shit, you know what? I just remembered that my boss needed my help on this new project…”</p><p>“Oh!” Jill’s eyes widened. “Okay. I’ll see you at home later, then.”</p><p>Tori finished the last of her mocha and headed out of the café. The bell tinkled behind her, and she looked back to see that the dark-haired man was indeed following her. Tori headed into the alleyway that stretched around behind the café, where she’d seen a few of the employees go to smoke in their break.</p><p>“You left your friend real quick.” The mocking voice of Diego Hargreeves made Tori’s anger simmer. She would know him anywhere – that insufferable smirk, the stride. He had almost a foot on her measly 5’2”, and she jutted her chin upwards to glower at him as he stopped in front of her.</p><p>“What do you want?” Tori demanded, planting her hands on her hips. “Turning up at my favourite coffee shop…are you stalking me now?”</p><p>Diego and Tori had been rivals for over a decade. While Diego had been playing the hero in the Umbrella Academy, Tori had been on the opposite end of the spectrum. As a member of the Italian mafia, Fabrizio had quickly introduced Tori to a life of crime – and thus the supervillain Toxin was born.</p><p>Did all kids who were mysteriously born that day in 1989 from previously non-existent pregnancies have abilities? Tori certainly did. As Toxin, she’d introduced the world to her pheromone manipulation and poison generation. She’d been Fabrizio’s greatest asset – until she had turned her back on him and on that life five years ago.</p><p>Diego hadn’t changed a bit. He might be running solo now, but he was still the masked hero delivering justice. Whereas Tori was trying to be normal, it seemed like Diego was trying to be anything but.</p><p>Unfortunately, Tori and Diego’s rivalry was surpassed by an overwhelming amount of sexual tension. She’d first encountered the Umbrella Academy as a teenager. She was curious about the youngsters who were born the same day as her, under the same circumstances. Fabrizio had urged caution, but that hadn’t stopped Tori from sleeping with Diego when they were 19. And many times after that. More times than Tori was proud of.</p><p>“Don’t flatter yourself,” Diego scoffed, “You think I just use my free time to follow you around?”</p><p>“Evidently,” Tori snapped.</p><p>Her pheromone manipulation had different impacts on different people. In some, it could heighten their anger, it could send some to sleep. It all depended on the person, how they felt about Tori, and what they were feeling at the time. In Diego, her ability usually seemed to strengthen his lust for her – which was probably why they went from hissing threats to tearing each other’s clothes off in moments.</p><p>“I thought you might want to hear it from me.” Diego’s demeanour shifted into something that Tori rarely saw from him – solemn. “About Fabrizio.”</p><p>“What?” Tori’s stomach lurched. She hadn’t contacted her step-dad in years – and she hadn’t wanted to. She’d left the mafia for her own reasons, but those reasons had been because of Fabrizio. After what he’d done, she hadn’t been able to find forgiveness, and so she had walked away. From him, from Toxin.</p><p>“He was arrested a little while ago.” Diego shrugged his shoulders, and Tori braced herself for what followed. “He just got convicted, for the murder of Celine Brant.”</p><hr/><p><em>Five years ago</em> </p><p>“Don’t you ever think about leaving?” Celine’s voice was soft as she and Tori lay sprawled in the back of Tori’s ute, surrounded by pillows and blankets. It had been her idea to go star-gazing, and Tori had had no reason to suspect an ulterior motive. Her boyfriend, Giulian Russo, had attempted to persuade her to stay home. Yet Tori was filled with a growing sense of unease, and only Celine would listen.</p><p>“I do, often.” Tori heaved a sigh, unable to get comfortable amongst the pillows. “But leaving to what? This is what I’ve got. Fabrizio might not be my blood father, but he’s my dad in every way that counts. Giulian and I…”</p><p>“Would it be the same if you weren’t a villain?” Celine’s voice sharpened as she rolled onto her side to examine Tori. “If you weren’t Toxin? Do you think they’d still love you then?”</p><p>“How can you even ask that?” Tori demanded, although she suspected that her tone was more hurt than angry. It was something she’d thought about herself. She was Fabrizio’s secret weapon, and Giulian always liked talking up his girlfriend. Although not officially initiated into the mafia yet, Giulian was one of Fabrizio’s favourites, and dating Tori was a big step in the right direction.</p><p>Celine held up her hands defensively. “I’m just giving some perspective.”</p><p>She was the only person outside of the mafia who knew the truth about Tori – well, aside from the Umbrella Academy. Tori had crossed paths with them more times than she could count, not that it mattered. For the most part, they had disbanded. She still saw Diego around, playing the vigilante, but for Giulian’s sake she had distanced herself from whatever complicated connection they had.</p><p>“If I left, who would I be then?” Tori’s voice was small, the back of her throat prickling as tears stung at her eyes. “Toxin is who I am, Celine. I may not even like that part of me sometimes, but it’s what I’ve got.”</p><p>“It’s never too late to change.” Celine shrugged her shoulders. “If it’s not what you want, you can become whoever you like.”</p><p>She made it sound so easy. Settling herself back against the blankets, Tori knew it was far more complex than that. Celine was an outsider, and Fabrizio had stated time and again that she couldn’t be trusted. She was ordinary, just a high school friend of Tori’s. Fabrizio always said she couldn’t afford to form attachments to people outside of the mafia, but Celine had always been different.</p><hr/><p>Part of the problem with having an alter ego was that anyone who knew Tori as Toxin couldn’t see her as the changed woman she was now. Fabrizio hadn’t been willing to believe she could change. She and Diego still tended to fall into playing the hero and villain around each other, an old habit, a pattern. It was familiar.</p><p>After Celine’s murder, Tori hadn’t believed that anyone would see justice because of it. She had never expected that a man as powerful and with as many connections as Fabrizio would ever see the inside of a jail cell for it – especially as he wasn’t the person who’d actually murdered Celine.</p><p>Once Diego had mentioned Celine’s name, Tori had turned and walked away. She didn’t want to hear that name coming out of his mouth. It had taken all of her strength not to punch him, or use a paralytic toxin on him. Hell, she’d done both many times before. Sometimes it was hard to shake her old ways.</p><p>Celine’s death had been what had finally driven Tori from the mafia. After years of doubts, years of playing cat and mouse with Diego – a game she’d turned her back on when she and Giulian became official – it had been the murder of a civilian that had caused Tori to turn her back on a life of crime.</p><p>It hadn’t been easy. She’d thrown herself into work, the real kind. She’d obtained a job working at the local council as a receptionist, and worked her way up into the role of customer service officer. It wasn’t her dream job, and it didn’t pay a fortune, but it covered the rent and bills, which was enough for Tori.</p><p>Her mind drifted back to Diego. When would he realise he was still living in a fantasy? She remembered the first time they’d met off the battleground, when he’d first kissed her. They’d done more than kiss. It had been something born of hate, of spite, but also of a loneliness and a desperation to become something more than the creatures they’d been crafted into.</p><p>He wasn’t the only member of the Umbrella Academy that Tori had seen since she’d left the mafia. None of them were what she would consider friends – she thought too much water was under the bridge for that to ever happen. Yet they were civil. Klaus more so than most – they attended the same alcoholics anonymous meetings, at least when Klaus bothered to show up, and he was usually either drunk or high at that point anyway.</p><p>It would still be an hour before Jill was home from work. Tori flicked on the TV and started working on a pasta carbonara as the news started up.</p><p>“In shocking news, eccentric billionaire Reginald Hargreeves has passed away…”</p><p>Tori’s head jerked up. She’d always heard from Diego that the man was an absolute dick, but he was still Diego’s adoptive father. The idea that his scowling presence was permanently gone was a chilling one. Had Diego already known when he’d met her today? Was that really why he was telling her about Fabrizio’s arrest, trying to make her connect some dots?</p><p>Reginald Hargreeves was dead, Fabrizio Martelli had just been sentenced…was it just a strange coincidence? A thrill of horror ran down Tori’s spine at the idea that her step-dad might have been responsible for Reginald’s death. Although the news sources stated that he died of natural causes, she wasn’t so sure. The idea that Fabrizio might have used the venom samples he’d gained from her, over the years she’d served so loyally…</p><p>
  <em>Fabrizio, what have you done?</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Whose Side Are You On</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Warnings: none</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Sixteen years ago</em>
  
</p><p>This was it – her big moment to shine. Fourteen-year-old Tori Cain scanned the ballroom as her stepdad mingled with friends and enemies alike. This was exactly what she had been trained for since childhood. Fabrizio had seen to it that in addition to her extraordinary abilities, Tori was proficient in mixed martial arts. Her job wasn’t to be the muscle – it was to infiltrate, observe and single out the target.</p><p>“Focus,” Giulian Russo hissed, his grip tightening on Tori’s arm as they made their way around the ballroom. He was only three years older than her, and the son of Fabrizio’s recently deceased best friend. Giulian had shown drive and ambition even at his young age. As he and Tori were the youngest members of Fabrizio’s section of the mafia, they’d had little choice but to become friends.</p><p>“I am focused,” Tori responded, offering sweet smiles to the men who greeted them before heading over to her target.</p><p>Antonio Santos had been doing Fabrizio dirty. Tori hadn’t been told all of the details, but apparently he was a rat, and was talking to the feds. That meant he was trouble, and tonight it was her task to dispose of him in the most subtle manner possible.</p><p>It was a terrifying task. Tori had never killed anyone, and although she had used her abilities to harm others, the idea of doing it deliberately was repulsive. Nonetheless, Fabrizio had been good to her since she’d been a little girl. She needed to start earning her keep. No one got a free ride in the mafia, and Tori’s abilities made her Fabrizio’s most unique treasure.</p><p>“Ah, young Tori Cain.” Antonio lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a dry kiss to the back of it. “Fabrizio’s stepdaughter. And Giulian! I was sorry to hear about your father’s death recently. Such a tragedy.”</p><p>“Thank you.” Giulian’s smile was tight. Tori squeezed his arm hard to remind him why they there.</p><p>Secreting toxins from her skin had become as easy and natural to Tori as breathing. She reached out to catch Antonio’s hand. The merest brush of her fingertips on his skin was enough – she had embedded him with enough poison that he’d only last a few minutes. The idea that it could be so quick and simple was horrifying, but Tori tried not to dwell too much on that.</p><p>“Do you know where the bathrooms are?”</p><p>“Yes, they’re just…” Antonio’s brow furrowed, face contorting into a picture of pain as the toxin kicked in. Giulian took a step back, but Tori remained exactly where she was, feigning concern.</p><p>“Mr Santos? Is everything alright?”</p><p>Antonio never had the chance to respond. His knees buckled and gave way and he convulsed on the floor at her feet, foaming up at the mouth. Tori screamed like she was supposed to, the epitome of the helpless teenage girl. That was how she appeared to all these other mafia members – a child. Across the room, Fabrizio caught his stepdaughter’s gaze and raised his glass to her, a faint smile on his lips. To him, she was not a child. To him, she was a weapon.</p><hr/><p>The cool March breeze sweeping across Tori’s cheek roused her from sleep, because she definitely hadn’t left that window open. She immediately went to the bedside table and rummaged around for her gun, but someone grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her feet. Although determined not to use her abilities, Tori knew she’d have little choice if she was about to be attacked – although her fear was more for Jill, asleep in the next room.</p><p>A hand clamped over her mouth and the cold steel of a knife kissed her neck as Tori’s attacker moved behind her. She stopped struggling as his chuckle reverberated up her spine.</p><p>“Thought you were past your villainous ways.” It was Diego. Of course it was Diego. He moved his hand away from her mouth, maybe worried she’d bite him and inject some of her poison beneath his skin.</p><p>“I am,” Tori insisted through gritted teeth. “Unlike you, Number Two. You can ease up with the knife now.”</p><p>Diego removed the knife and spun her to face him. His dark eyes were emotional, but that was expected. As much as he tried to act cool and collected, he was all fire and rage. His encounters with Tori had always been passionate, in one way or another.</p><p>“If you wanted to get kinky, you could have just asked.” Tori raised her eyebrows, a smirk spreading across her lips. “You know I don’t mind having a knife to my neck.”</p><p>“That isn’t what this is about,” Diego argued, putting the knives away and releasing Tori. “You heard about my dad dying, didn’t you?”</p><p>Tori shrugged her shoulders. “Who didn’t?”</p><p>“Luther seems to think he was murdered.” Diego folded his arms over his chest, assessing her with narrowed eyes. “As much as I want to think his death was accidental, it’s something I’m definitely thinking over. After all, there are certain people who could make a death like that <em>seem</em> accidental.”</p><p>Tori threw up her hands. “Why the hell would I want to kill your dad? Don’t you think if I did, I’d have done it years ago?”</p><p>Diego’s eyes raked over her, and Tori was suddenly aware that she was only in an oversized shirt.</p><p>“Besides.” Tori tilted her head back. “I thought you weren’t really talking to your family anymore.”</p><p>“Things change.” Diego traced a finger along the edge of one of his knives. “The death of a parent draws people together like that.”</p><p>“Well, I’m sorry you lost him, but you’re looking in the wrong place.” Tori shook her head slowly. “Fabrizio, on the other hand…”</p><p>Diego scoffed. “Your stepdad’s in prison. How’s he meant to have orchestrated this?”</p><p>“You don’t know him like I do,” Tori said softly.</p><p>Reginald Hargreeves had been a cold and distant man. He had never really been a father to his adopted children, merely utilised them for his own gain. Perhaps that was why Tori and Diego had such a connection – Fabrizio had been the same, but worse. He had eliminated anyone and anything that could possibly have compromised Tori’s loyalty, and for that, she would never forgive him.</p><p>There was something like tenderness in Diego’s dark eyes, and he stepped closer to Tori. She tensed, uncertain what to expect, but then his lips were on hers. How could they meet in the dark, just the two of them, and <em>not</em> succumb to their rampant emotions? Tori stepped up on her toes to throw her arms around Diego’s neck, deepening the fierce kiss. His lips drifted away from hers, pressing down her neck.</p><p>Diego picked her up and set her on the bedside table, a hand running up her leg and beneath the hem of her nightshirt. With great restraint, Tori caught his wrist and brushed her away. They couldn’t keep doing this. She couldn’t keep being his secret. She hadn’t been a villain for five years now, and he was still ashamed at the idea of being seen in public with her.</p><p>It had been thrilling and forbidden, but after more than a decade of their on-again, off-again affair, Tori found herself growing tired. She was almost thirty now. She wanted to be with someone who wasn’t embarrassed at the idea of her. She had thought once Giulian was the answer, but he’d destroyed that dream.</p><p>“Go home, Diego. Go back to your family.”</p><hr/><p>
  <em>Fourteen years ago</em>
  
</p><p>The Umbrella Academy responded to the murder of high-profile federal agent Nathan Bolt with haste. The assassin had set off security alarms, but by the time Diego Hargreeves and his siblings arrived, it was too late – he was already dead. His body was still warm, indicating that the murderer had just departed. Thrilled at the idea of catching the criminal responsible, Diego eagerly sprinted off down the stairs, with Ben not far behind him.</p><p>“We should wait for the others!” Ben called after him.</p><p>“Yeah, they’re busy seeing what happened to the guy,” Diego responded, tearing down the fire escape at breakneck speed.</p><p>When he threw open the doors to the alleyway that ran behind the hotel, he could see two people casually sharing a cigarette near the dumpster. A small blonde girl probably around his own age, and a boy in his late teens. They both glanced at him as though he’d interrupted, and it took him a moment to realise that the boy had bloodstains on his shirt. This unlikely young duo were the murderers they were looking for.</p><p>Diego didn’t even hesitate. He hurled the knife toward the boy. The girl threw herself in front of him and the knife glanced off her arm – which Diego realised was covered in some sort of black armour, like the rest of her body. She offered him a sweet, dangerous smile.</p><p>Diego was taken aback and for some odd reason, instantly attracted. People ran from his knives, not threw themselves in front of them. Despite the blood on the boy, the girl was completely clean. Pretty, too. Although he was determinedly avoiding that fact.</p><p>“Can we help you?” she asked. “Number Two, right?”</p><p>The realisation that she knew who he was, but he didn’t know who she was, made his stomach lurch unpleasantly. Ben appeared at his side, and Diego knew his brother would be reluctant to use his own power, especially against these kids.</p><p>“Who are you?” he demanded. “Why did you kill Bolt?”</p><p>“You might find out one day.” The blonde girl shrugged. “You can call me Toxin.”</p><p>“Let’s go.” The boy put an almost possessive hand on her arm, glaring at Diego. The girl – Toxin – stepped toward Diego and Ben. Diego stiffened, and he felt Ben catch his arm. The girl simply reached out to touch their hands, smiling. Although suspicious, Diego didn’t move…until he couldn’t move his fingers. Glancing at Ben in horror, he realised the same thing was happening to his brother. Diego bared his teeth and lunged, but immediately collapsed to his knees. Ben groaned as he hit the ground beside him.</p><p>Toxin smirked as she stepped back, hazel eyes aglow with mischief.</p><p>“Don’t worry. You’ll regain sensation in a few minutes.”</p><p>The girl blew him a kiss, laughing, before sprinting off out of the alleyway after her friend.</p><p><em>Toxin</em>. Diego would remember that. He’d remember her. His new mortal enemy. She was intoxicating, in more ways than one.</p><hr/><p>“I’m here to see Fabrizio Martelli.”</p><p>It had been a big choice to make, thinking about whether she wanted to see the man who had ruined her life, but curiosity had gotten the better of Tori. She’d walked away all those years ago, leaving Fabrizio no time to give an explanation. She was ready to hear one now.</p><p>The receptionist at the prison looked over her notes, before peering down her nose at Tori.</p><p>“Name and relation?”</p><p>“Tori Cain.” She stuffed her hands into her pockets. “I’m his stepdaughter.”</p><p>The receptionist typed something into the computer. “Looks like he’s available for visitation.”</p><p>One of the cops escorted Tori through, buzzing her into room full of chairs. She hadn’t ever visited people in prison, despite the fact that members of the mafia were carted off there on a fairly regular basis. Looking at what the other visitors were doing, Tori supposed she was meant to sit in front of the glass and pick up the phone to hear Fabrizio speak. She did so with shaking hands, as the door on the other side opened and her stepfather walked in.</p><p>At almost sixty years old, there were still very few grey hairs in Fabrizio’s dark mop, but there were bags under his eyes and lines etched across his forehead as he sat in the chair on the opposite side of the glass. He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear, and for a few moments there was silence as each waited for the other to speak first.</p><p>“I see you’re finally where you belong.” Tori’s venom got the better of her, eyes narrowing as she stared down the man she’d once considered a father.</p><p>“You’re all grown up now.” Fabrizio’s tone was solemn. “What are you doing with your life now?”</p><p>“Honest work,” Tori responded snidely, before taking a deep breath. She hadn’t come here to attack Fabrizio, as much as she wanted to. “So, it was you they got for Celine’s murder. That’s a surprise.”</p><p>“I was responsible.” Fabrizio’s voice was heavy, and Tori was glad that he was now accepting some of the blame. He may not have fired the shot that ended Celine’s life, but he had been the one to give the order. Fabrizio had as good as murdered Celine, regardless of what he might try and claim.</p><p>“But you didn’t kill her.”</p><p>No, that had been someone else entirely – the man Tori thought she could have come to love, the man she might have married if things had been different. Giulian had broken her heart the night he’d chosen Fabrizio over her, the night he had murdered her best friend. It had been an attempt to convince Tori that she needed to stay, that she had nothing left. Only it had backfired when Giulian had been caught at the scene of the crime, before he and Fabrizio could claim it was someone with a vendetta against Toxin.</p><p>“No, but the man who did is dead.” Fabrizio’s dark eyes examined her. “I am not the only one who committed murder that night.”</p><p>It had been her last cold, cruel act as Toxin. When she had seen Celine’s dead body and Giulian standing over with the gun, Tori had reacted instinctively. She’d paralysed Giulian before he could object, because she had wanted him to know what she was going to do. She wanted him to watch as she killed him. Then she had, brutally.</p><p>Tears of shame spilled down Tori’s cheeks. She hadn’t relished what she had done. She had acted in the heat of the moment. It had not been easy for her to kill her fiancé, the man she’d been close with since childhood.</p><p>Yet he had taken Celine from her, taken away someone outside the mafia who knew who and what Tori was, and not condemned her for it. He had killed Celine to prove his worth to Fabrizio, but she knew he had also done it because he was jealous, scared that she might choose her friendship with Celine over her relationship with him.</p><p>“You’re here because you want to know if I was responsible for Reginald Hargreeves’s death. It would make such a simple solution, no? I’m sorry, <em>amore mio</em>, I was not.”</p><p>“Don’t call me that,” Tori snapped, “I’m not your love, I’m not your daughter. I never was. I was something for you to use, and you got shitty at the thought I might live a life outside of you.”</p><p>“I have done many things that I regret.” Fabrizio sighed deeply. “Driving you away was the worst mistake of my life.”</p><p>Tori didn’t know how to respond to that. She had expected her stepfather to defend himself, not openly confess to having made a mistake. Nonetheless, she wouldn’t raise a hand to help him. He deserved to be in prison for what he’d done. Hanging up the phone, Tori pushed herself to her feet. Fabrizio watched her with sad eyes, but she turned her back on him.</p><p>She now knew that, unless Fabrizio was outright lying, he hadn’t used her poison to kill Reginald Hargreeves. She had jumped to a conclusion, and she’d been wrong. Tori knew that she had to see Diego and tell him what she knew. He was the first person who’d develop a thirst for vengeance. He hadn’t loved his father, but there was a lot of anger in him, just looking for a way to seep out.</p><p>But first, she needed a sugar fix from Griddy’s Doughnuts.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. In The Air Tonight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Warnings: sex scene</strong>
</p><p>“What. The. Hell.”</p><p>Tori could only gape at the boy sitting at the counter at Griddy’s Doughnuts with a sickly-sweet smile across his far that was far from genuine. She hadn’t seen Number Five in a very long time, before she’d even killed someone. Yet here he was in the flesh, looking no older than the thirteen years he’d been when he had disappeared. Deciding this was way too creepy for her liking, she marched determinedly up to the counter.</p><p>“What can I get for you, miss?” The woman – Agnes, according to the badge – asked. Although she’d been hankering for a donut, the sudden appearance of someone who’d been missing for more than half of Tori’s life kind of put a hold on her need for a sugar fix.</p><p>“A coffee is fine.” Tori sat down beside Five, who just raised his eyebrows as though her presence was mildly surprising.</p><p>“Toxin.”</p><p>“I don’t go by that name anymore.” Tori’s voice was hard as she accepted the coffee from Agnes and immediately took a sip. “Anyway, weren’t you presumed dead or something? What’s the deal?”</p><p>Five had gone missing way back, before anything had ever happened between Tori and Diego, before Celine, before she’d said goodbye to a life of crime and instead decided to try and do something better. She still hadn’t really gotten to the ‘something better’ part of her life, but living a boring, everyday existence had to count for something.</p><p>“A whole lot of time-travel and equations that would baffle that pretty little head of yours.” Five’s condescending tone was enough to convince Tori that he wasn’t the kid he appeared to be, if nothing else. The contempt made her eyes narrow. It’d be so easy to poison the black coffee he was casually sipping, but she liked to restrain herself from homicidal thoughts and violent urges.</p><p>“So, you’re not actually a teenager?”</p><p>“Technically, I’m about twenty years older than you, so no.” Five glanced at her, his expression devious. “I hear things have changed drastically for you. No Fabrizio and Giulian in the picture?”</p><p>Tori was spared the snarky answer she would have delivered by an insistent buzzing of her phone. When she picked it up, she realised that Jillian was attempting to call her. Heaving a sigh, she pushed herself away from the counter and headed into the ladies’ room. She really didn’t need Five to have any more dirt on her, particularly when she knew next to nothing about what had happened with him.</p><p>“Jill, what is it?”</p><p>“Don’t sound so pleased to hear from me, jeez.” Her best friend’s tone was sour. “Anyway, my date for tonight cancelled so I just wanted to see if you were in the mood for a rom-com night…”</p><p>Jillian’s nattering was drowned out by the sound of what could only be explained as gunfire. Tori’s stomach twisted but there was also something else beyond the trepidation – something she could only explain as <em>excitement</em>. It had been years since she’d had a fight (no, nothing she did with Diego counted), and the idea that she could walk back out there into whatever this was…</p><p>“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tori muttered under her breath.</p><p>“What?” Jillian sounded impatient. “Where are you, Tori? There’s some weird noise in the background.”</p><p>“I’m going to have to call you back.” Tori hung up before Jillian could protest. There was some shame in the feeling of exhilaration. She was a normal woman now, one who didn’t indulge in the same vices she had in her younger years – with the guilty exception of Diego. He was the one thing she hadn’t given up, and she was beginning to wonder if maybe she should, or even could.</p><p>By the time she shoved open the door to the bathrooms and stepped back into the café, the lights were flickering, there were dead bodies all over the place, and Five was nowhere in sight. Tori threw her hands up in the air, more perturbed by Five’s disappearance than the actual corpses.</p><p>“You’ve got to be <em>fucking kidding me</em>.”</p><hr/><p>Tori knew she had to be truly desperate to go to Diego Hargreeves for help, but who else could explain exactly what was going on with Five? It wasn’t exactly like she was on speaking terms with the rest of the Umbrella Academy. That was how she found herself hammering on the door to the boiler room of the boxing gym where Diego worked and lived.</p><p>“Save it.” Tori held up her hand as Diego’s lips twisted into a smirk. “I’m not here for the reasons you think I am.”</p><p>“Huh.” Diego leaned in the doorframe. “So then why are you here?”</p><p>“Your brother, Five.” Tori raked a hand through her blonde hair. “Do you want to even begin explaining what the fuck happened there?”</p><p>Diego caught her by the arm, tugging her inside before closing the door behind her. Tori’s gaze raked over Diego’s usual set-up. It wasn’t much, but it was home for him, and she wouldn’t judge him for that. It was difficult for people like them, who’d lived in the spotlight during their teen years, to find any place they could call home.</p><p>“Five? Where did you see him?”</p><p>“Griddy’s Doughnuts, like an hour ago.” Tori folded her arms over her chest. “I went to the bathroom to take a call and when I got back, several men were dead and Five had vanished. I get that he isn’t the teenager he appears to be, but honestly, this was an absolute mess.”</p><p>“Yeah, former villains would know all about that,” Diego mused, making Tori tempted to hit him across the face. She restrained herself, although it did take a whole heap of willpower.</p><p>“I’m serious, Diego. I don’t know if he left before it, or during it…but I just know you like doing your whole cute little vigilante gig. Thought you might want to check it out.”</p><p>“You think it’s cute?” Diego grinned, irritating Tori beyond belief. How she hadn’t murdered him when she’d been a villain was often a huge question in itself.</p><p>“Why do you only ever focus on the most mundane part of what I’m saying?”</p><p>Diego tilted his head to the side. “Heard you visited Fabrizio earlier.”</p><p>An unpleasant shiver ran up Tori’s spine. “Where did you hear that?”</p><p>Diego shrugged. “Friends with a lot of the cops around here. I have to say, that’s really convenient timing. Did he confess to the crime?”</p><p>“You mean murdering your dad?” Tori shook her head vigorously, her mind going over her interaction with Fabrizio. “That’s just it. He says he didn’t do it…and I believe him. Fabrizio is a lot of things, but he isn’t a liar. He’s got no reason to deny it.”</p><p>Tori pondered the matter of Reginald’s death, but what reason did she really have to believe it was anything more than natural? The man hadn’t exactly been young, and although the family had their enemies, they’d been retired for some time now. The only people who might have killed him were his own children, a possibility that swirled through Tori’s mind accompanied by deep uneasiness.</p><p>“Come with me,” Diego insisted, drawing her attention back to the mystery of Griddy’s Doughnuts and the mass murder she’d very clearly <em>not</em> witnessed there. “I could use some back-up on this. I don’t think those people and Five were in the café at the same time by coincidence, and I don’t think you do either.”</p><p>Tori smiled wryly. “Ex-hero and ex-villain work together to save the day. Who’d have guessed?”</p><hr/><p>
  <em>Eleven years ago</em>
</p><p>One might think it odd that a member of the mafia had such strong faith, but Fabrizio had instilled the idea of prayer in Tori from a young age. A heavily Catholic man, he wore his silver cross around his neck with pride, although he was often asking God’s forgiveness. Many a time, he’d told Tori that she herself must be a gift from God, delivered to Fabrizio to assist in his work.</p><p>Tori had slipped into the empty church in the dead of night, picking the lock to kneel before God and whisper fervent prayers. She didn’t know if she believed as Fabrizio did, yet it was comforting to have <em>something</em> to believe in. Glancing around, Tori stepped into the confessional. She knew there was no priest on the other side, but she needed to speak of her damning crimes aloud nonetheless.</p><p>“Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.” Tori took a deep, shuddering breath. “Today I killed someone, and not for the first time.”</p><p>There was silence, as she had anticipated. At nineteen years old, Tori had outgrown the vehement belief of her younger years. Now she spoke to God without any real conviction, voicing her doubts to thin air and knowing they likely wouldn’t be heard. Coming to church was a ritual, not driven by blind faith.</p><p>Tori’s anger grew. “Did you grant me these powers? The power to twist others and to kill so quickly and easily? Why make me deadly if you didn’t want me to be such a creature?”</p><p>“You ask some interesting questions.” The dryly amused voice by the curtain made Tori jump, and she tugged it open to reveal the hated smirk of Diego Hargreeves. Or Number Two, as he was often referred to.</p><p>“What the fuck are you doing here?”</p><p>“Could ask you the same question.” Diego’s dark eyes raked over the cross. “Didn’t take you for a particularly holy person.”</p><p>Tori’s cheeks burned with shame. “Get out! You have no right to be here.”</p><p>“To be honest, I followed you in here because I thought you were gonna steal.” Diego’s words caused a silence between the pair for a few moments, before he stepped into the confessional too. With both of them in there, it seemed awfully crowded, and Tori was acutely aware of his closeness.</p><p>“Fuck off, Diego.”</p><p>“I’m a sinner, too.” He raised his eyebrows, amused. “Should I repent?”</p><p>“I’m not here to be made a joke of,” Tori hissed through clenched teeth. She found herself pressed against the back of the confessional, neck craned back to glare at her rival. There was something alight in those dark eyes, and she was a little scared to realise that it was desire. Her abilities meant she affected those around her and made them feel things more strongly, things she could manipulate, but she hadn’t expected Diego to look at her like that.</p><p>Sure, he was hot. He’d made it clear in the past that he thought she was too. But they were enemies. They couldn’t share something more than barbed words in this moment…could they?</p><p>“You’re an annoying little thing.” Diego reached out and caught her by the chin, and Tori resisted the urge to smack his hand away. “But I don’t think you’re all bad.”</p><p>Tori reached out and slipped one of his knives off his belt, pressing it to the exposed skin of his throat. Far from being deterred, his smile widened.</p><p>“If you think I’m sugar and spice and all things nice, you really don’t know me at all.”</p><p>“I don’t think that.” Diego didn’t try and take the knife from her. “I think you’re vulnerable and you hate yourself for it.”</p><p>“Almost as much as I hate you,” Tori whispered, but there was little heat to the words.</p><p>The next thing she knew, Diego was kissing her. The knife dropped from her fingers and clattered to the bottom of the confessional. Tori had kissed boys before, fumbling moments when she’d driven them crazy with her pheromone manipulation or when she’d wanted to prove to herself she could be a normal teenager. But none of those kisses had the passion and intensity with which Diego kissed her now.</p><p>Tori slipped her arms around Diego’s neck, standing on her toes to try and take off some of the near-foot height difference between them. He pressed her harder against the wall of the confessional, one of his hands drifting to her hip to hold her tight against him.</p><p>This was a church, dammit. Fabrizio would be furious if he knew she’d done something like this in a confessional, of all places. Yet Diego was right – they were both sinners. So why shouldn’t they sin?</p><p>Diego’s lips drifted down her jaw, down the slim column of her neck. One of his hands paused at the hem of her shirt. When she didn’t resist, he put his hand up, fingers caressing the warm, bare skin of her stomach. Tori gave a delighted sigh, fingers threading into Diego’s dark hair as her body arched against him. She reached for his shirt, but he caught her wrist, and she realised there was no way he was taking those knives off around her.</p><p>Diego’s hand groped at her breasts, the other hand slipping behind her to unclasp her bra. Tori’s cheeks heated up, but she wasn’t about to tell Diego she hadn’t done anything like this before. She was worried if she did, he would stop – and as much as she despised herself for it, she didn’t want him to stop.</p><p>Tugging her bra and shirt off, Diego kissed down her collarbone and over the curve of her breast. Tori gave a ragged gasp as Diego’s lips closed around a nipple, while his fingers kneaded her other breast. She squirmed against him, feeling a surge of satisfaction when she realised how hard he was. There was a heat rising between her legs and she realised just how turned on she was, too.</p><p>Diego’s free hand slid underneath Tori’s skirt, fingers crawling up her thigh. She wanted to touch him back, but he didn’t seem to want that, and she was putty in his hands anyway. Diego pushed her panties to the side, slipping one finger inside her and rubbing her clit with his thumb. Tori’s low moan resonated through the confessional.</p><p>“Huh. You’re already wet.” There was no doubting the smugness in his voice.</p><p>“Shut the fuck up,” she warned.</p><p>Diego spun her around so her back was to him, and Tori braced herself by putting her hands on the confessional walls to stop herself from falling. She heard him undo his belt buckle and felt a surge of nervous excitement. Diego gripped her hip and positioned his cock before pushing into her with a grunt. Being filled by him burned for a few seconds, before the pain receded to only mild discomfort.</p><p>“Jesus Christ,” Diego’s voice was low and husky, lips on the side of Tori’s neck again.</p><p>A wicked smile curved her lips. “Shouldn’t use the lord’s name in vain.”</p><p>Diego’s fingers tightened on her hip and he started to thrust. At first Tori bit her lip to hide her initial soreness, but there was no fighting how his lips on her shoulder and his free hand on her breasts made her feel. It took only a few thrusts for her to find pleasure. She didn’t even attempt to keep quiet then, moaning softly at his ministrations.</p><p>Tori kept her fingers splayed against the walls, hands braced to keep herself still as Diego fucked her senseless. Girls always said the first time was shit, but this…wasn’t bad. His low groans made her even more aroused, and she began to rock her hips back against him to meet his thrusts.</p><p>Diego spread her legs further apart, allowing him to thrust deeper. Tori gave a soft whimper of pleasure at the new sensations she was experiencing, his fingers pinching at her nipples until they hardened. His hands on her breasts were rough, tweaking and squeezing until Tori moaned.</p><p>Diego’s thrusts were hard and steady as he found a rhythm, one that caused heat to coil within Tori’s body. She found herself able to do little more than moan and rock her hips in time with his thrusts, cursing this new power she’d given Diego over her body. His groans escalated in volume as his thrusts became faster.</p><p>“I’m gonna cum,” Diego choked out.</p><p>“It’s fine, I’m on birth control,” Tori responded breathlessly, which probably wasn’t terribly erotic but was also true.</p><p>Diego gave a series of short, sharp thrusts before he grunted and shuddered. Tori had the sensation of something warm and wet spurting into her. Diego panted and withdrew, shoving his cock back in his pants and doing up his belt. It took Tori a few more moments to compose herself, her panties sticky as she pulled her shirt and bra back on.</p><p>Diego opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but then he stepped out of the confessional, letting the curtain swing across again behind him. Tori raked a hand through her now tangled blonde hair, utterly confused and wondering where this left things between her and Diego.</p><p>She hadn’t exactly expected romance. They were never going to be anything more than enemies – enemies who’d now had sex. He’d lusted for her, now he’d had her. Maybe that meant it was over, that whatever weird sexual tension they had would dissipate now they’d sated that craving.</p><p>Unfortunately, that was very much not the case.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Makings of Monstrosity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Warnings: none</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fucking amateur.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori stood with her hands in her pockets, unable to fully suppress a smirk as she watched Eudora Patch shove Diego in the back of a cop car. As someone who liked to believe he was some kind of detective, he really wasn’t that great at remaining inconspicuous. Diego glowered at her from the grimy back window of the car, but Tori simply blew him a kiss. The last thing she needed was to be arrested and get her dirty history dug up again. She’d text Diego later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A crowd had gathered around Griddy’s Doughnuts, making Tori shake her head. People really were unbelievable. As she walked away from the scene of the crime, she paused as she noticed a pair at the front of the crowd, calmly eating ice-cream - a big man and a dark woman. Something about them unsettled Tori, but she turned her back on them. She was doing her best to remain inconspicuous, not attract more attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori remembered she’d completely forgotten to get back to Jillian, and she really didn’t feel like a phone call. Extricating her phone, she rattled off a quick text claiming she’d gone home with a guy. Jillian would love that - she was constantly trying to set Tori up. She probably wouldn’t have been as keen if she knew Tori had straight-up murdered the guy she’d last been with in the long-term.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She figured she’d go back and wait at Diego’s. He had history with Patch, so he’d probably get out pretty quick. Not that Tori was jealous or anything - she’d had history with Giulian, after all. Even thinking about her ex-fiance made her stomach twist. She’d give anything to forget what had happened five years ago - and that hadn’t even been the worst of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one commented when she headed out the back of the gym. They’d seen her around enough times to associate with her Diego. When she reached the boiler room, she found the door slightly ajar. Entire body tensing, Tori slipped a knife from her pocket. She wasn’t an ace throw like Diego, but she was trained enough to do some damage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kicking the door open, she poised to attack - only to spot Luther Hargreeves sitting in Diego’s overcrowded little personal space. The last Tori had heard, he was on the moon or some shit, so seeing him cramped into one of Diego’s chairs was a shock in itself. She lowered the knife, examining Luther as he raised his hands in surrender.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Toxin?” he asked incredulously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s Tori,” she snapped, before realising with a hint of amusement that Luther didn’t even know she’d retired from being a supervillain. He probably thought she was still out there committing crimes. It was a wonder he hadn’t launched off the chair and tried to snap her neck, but he appeared just as astonished by her presence as she was about his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing here?” he demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori folded her arms over her chest. Luther was huge and she was tiny, but she wasn’t feeling particularly intimidated at this current point in time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could ask you the same question.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther frowned. “I’m looking for my brother.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…” Tori didn’t know how to explain the complex nature of her relationship with Diego, but something dawned across Luther’s face and he nodded slowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, you and Diego…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There is no ‘me and Diego’.” Tori’s voice was flat, but they both knew that she was lying. She couldn’t deny there was some kind of connection between her and Diego.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Last I knew, you were with Giulian Russo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A series of images flashed through Tori’s mind. Giulian immobile on the ground, crying and begging. Her own tears as she’d brutally killed him, his corpse beside Celine’s bloody body. She took a few deep breaths to fend off the tightness in her chest. That was in the past now. She wasn’t Toxin anymore. She was Tori Cain, and she had washed her hands clean.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Giulian’s been dead a few years now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her cold tone and hard expression must have said it all, because Luther’s eyes widened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You killed him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re really not going into this right now.” Tori’s curtness told him the topic of conversation was closed. Perhaps they weren’t enemies anymore, but that didn’t make them suddenly best buddies because they’d rocked up at Diego’s at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luther wasn’t a bad guy, not as far as Tori could remember. He had a sense of loyalty to his dad that she never understood, sure. He was probably one of the more decent members of the Umbrella Academy. She was pretty grateful that he hadn’t decided to kill her on sight - a fight probably would’ve gotten messy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A knife whizzed across the room, hitting the table right beside where Luther was sitting. Tori arched an eyebrow as Diego’s knife narrowly missed slicing Luther’s face. He turned the light on, none too surprised to see his brother sitting there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I could smell it was you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell?” Luther demanded, getting up from the chair and gingerly touching the side of his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tori.” Diego glanced at her, eyes narrowing. “Thanks for the help back there, by the way. Thought you were past saving your own skin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could have killed me!” Luther exclaimed, his mind still definitely on the fact that Diego had winged a knife at him. Tori was kind of used to it - she and Diego had almost killed each multiple times over the years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.” Diego strode over, holding out his hand for his knife, which Luther reluctantly handed over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a nice place.” Luther’s tone indicated that he wasn’t a fan. Tori couldn’t say she blamed him - she’d been telling Diego for ages that it was shit. Why couldn’t he just get a small apartment downtown or something? Diego really did enjoy gunning for the lone wolf angle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So why didn’t you tell me?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell me what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori flopped onto Diego’s bed and let them bicker. It was what siblings did, apparently. She didn’t really know for sure, since she’d never had any. What would it be like, growing up like the Hargreeves did? Sure, Reginald had been an asshole, but they’d had each other? Tori only ever had Giulian and Celine, and they were both gone now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That you were fighting the night that Dad died.” Luther held up a newspaper. “I checked with the guys out there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I shouldn’t have to prove my innocence to you or anyone else in this family.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego cracked a raw egg and swallowed it whole, making Tori grimace. She’d seen him do it once or twice, but that didn’t mean she thought it was any less gross.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s fucking disgusting,” she muttered, but both brothers ignored her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you’re right,” Luther admitted, “But I just thought that…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know what you thought.” Diego’s dismissive tone indicated that he was done talking. “Now, you have a nice day, brother.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Luther didn’t argue further. He ascended the steps and closed the boiler room door behind him as he left. Tori considered proclaiming her innocence, but she was mildly astonished that Luther hadn’t thrown any accusations her way. He’d encountered a former supervillain and suspected Diego over her? Harsh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You gonna throw me out too?” Tori asked, arching an eyebrow. She wouldn’t have been surprised. He was hardly in the best mood, and she’d kind of ditched him when they’d promised to team up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thought maybe you could stay.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gave a hollow laugh. She knew exactly what that meant. Once upon a time, she might have jumped at the opportunity, but...something had changed. The illicit nature of their relationship had lost its thrill. She wanted Diego to want her, not just in the shadows, but for real. Shaking her head, Tori pushed herself off his bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You really are something, aren’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Diego looked confused. Fair enough - it was something they’d done countless times. “Tori, I…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grabbed her arm, but she pushed him away. Giulian had been a lot of things. Giulian might have been a monster. At least he’d had the decency to want a proper relationship with her. They’d had their flaws and their arguments, and they never would have lasted even if he’d lived. Diego, though...to Diego, they were still 19 years old and in that confessional. They were something that happened behind closed doors.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not your shameful little secret anymore, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that why you ditched me back there?” Anger contorted Diego’s face. “Because you’re pissed at me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That has nothing to do with this,” Tori argued, folding her arms over her chest, “I left you because you were a moron who got himself caught, and I couldn’t take that risk. The cops have enough on me already. I’m good, but I’m not that good. I have to keep my head down when it comes to criminal activity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, because that’s always stopped you in the past.” Diego resorted to sarcasm, as he always did when his feelings were hurt. “I want to know what the problem is, Tori.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you be in an actual relationship with me?” Tori demanded, jutting her chin upwards to stare at him. “Would you want a future with me? Or would I always just be the woman you had sex with whenever the lust got too much to handle?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego opened his mouth to say something, and Tori’s heart leapt at the thought maybe he’d say something that would give her hope. Instead he closed his mouth just as quickly, lips pressed into a firm line. His dark eyes were racing with emotions - Tori could feel them all coursing through him. Lust, guilt, regret. Those were enough to tell her what she needed to know. She smiled bitterly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s what I thought.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned and marched from the boiler room, taking care to slam the door behind her. She blinked away tears and hated herself for being so emotional about it. Did she really have feelings for Diego now? Was that what was happening? Why else would his rejection sting? She didn’t know what would be worse - that, or if he’d actually wanted something real.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori despaired of the fact that Diego kept her at arm’s length and didn’t want anything serious, but part of her knew it was for the best. If he got to know her deepest, darkest secrets he’d want nothing to do with her. He might know Tori better than most, though he didn’t know some of the most shameful moments of her past - moments she’d hoped had died with Giulian.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <em>
    <span>Seven years ago</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are we even having this conversation again?” Giulian threw Tori an irritated look as he lit up a cigarette. He exhaled a plume of smoke. “You know where I stand on it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, you mean...never?” Tori wrapped her arms around herself. Giulian was, for lack of a better word, convenient. He’d known her since they’d been kids. He accepted her villainy and her powers in a way not many did. How else was she meant to find a guy to be with who could look past all of that, who saw all of the darkness in her and didn’t turn away? But this conversation...this conversation made Tori doubt she could keep up the relationship.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, never.” Giulian eased out of his chair, putting out the cigarette after a few more thoughtful puffs. “I thought I’d made that clear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought it was just because we’re young and you wanted to wait.” Tori’s voice was soft even as she accepted just how fucking stupid she’d been. “Do I at least get an explanation? Can’t you tell me why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giulian’s smile was sad as he reached out to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. He kissed her cheek, but Tori didn’t want his affection. She wanted answers. Even if it was just ‘I don’t want to’. Something so she could feel she had closure on a door that had been forever closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are an incredible woman, Tori.” Giulian pressed his lips to her forehead. “Your abilities are like nothing I’ve ever seen. But how could I have a kid with powers I’d never understand?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t know that,” Tori pleaded, taking Giulian’s hands in hers. “Who says if we had a kid they would even have powers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There would always be that risk.” Giulian drew his hands away. “I love you. But I couldn’t raise a child knowing they would become…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Become what?” Tori’s voice was shaking with barely controlled anger. “Become like me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t know that it was better or worse that he was honest. “Yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori was stunned into silence. Was the thought of a child having powers truly that horrifying? Fabrizio hadn’t thought so when he’d taken her in. She’d learned since that she’d become a weapon to him, but at least he hadn’t forsaken her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her mother had left when she’d been young, and Tori had hoped that one day she might be able to have children of her own. Giulian had destroyed that dream, and he’d told her that it was her fault. Giulian strode across to the door, taking his coat off the rack and offering her a sympathetic smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Babe, don’t look too much into it, alright? It’s the just way things have to be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. When Giulian left, closing the door behind him, she pressed her hands over her face and sobbed. She knew that she was only in her early twenties. She thought she could have understood any other reason, but not the fact that she was the reason she wouldn’t ever have a child.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Picking up her phone, Tori hit the speed dial. The phone rang twice as she leaned against the kitchen counter. She tried to keep her emotions in check as a familiar voice answered on the other end of the line.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Celine? Can you come over? I just really need someone to talk to right now.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Horror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Warnings: sex scene</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“There was absolutely room for Jack on there too,” Jillian said indignantly through a mouthful of popcorn, gesturing to the now-blank screen of the 65-inch TV screen they had set up in the lounge room. “Rose was just being a bitch. She could have moved over.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think it’s meant to be romantic.” Tori propped her feet, clad in fuzzy socks, up on the ottoman. “But I totally agree with you, it’s bullshit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An insistent hammering on the door made both women start. Tori dropped her feet off the ottoman, immediately tensing. Jillian was far more chill, getting up off the couch and gliding over to the front door. When she opened the door, Tori froze when she saw Diego standing there, looking a bit worse for wear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um, hi.” Jillian glanced over her shoulder at Tori, noticing that was where Diego’s eyes were fixed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t be here.” Tori marched over to the door, but Jillian caught her arm before she could shut the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, you know this guy?” Jillian’s eyes lit up with something like excitement. Maybe she thought that this was about Tori getting action - and although she wouldn’t strictly have been wrong, Tori knew that wasn’t why Diego had rocked up looking like he’d had the shit beaten out of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could say that,” Tori ground out. She was pissed. Why hadn’t Diego texted? Was this some kind of petty way to get back at her for leaving him to get arrested by the cops? She folded her arms across her chest and wondered what other way there was to indicate her displeasure other than literally slapping him across the face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego’s dark eyes were solely on Tori. “I need your help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to talk somewhere private.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll give you privacy!” Jillian was smirking like a schoolgirl who’d learned a dirty secret as she held up her hands, scurrying off to her room and closing the door. After a few moments, Tori heard her latest Spotify pop playlist start up. She wasn’t even trying to eavesdrop. Tori was mildly impressed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, Diego.” Tori pushed the door closed behind him, leaning against it. “What do you want, and why do you look like someone smacked the shit out of you? Did you have a fight last night?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were attacked.” Diego opened the fridge and started going through the groceries that Jillian had just purchased the day before. “Pair of freaks in masks. Klaus has gone missing, too. They might have grabbed him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So who do you mean by we?” Tori asked, raking her fingers through her hair and watching as Diego helped himself to an apple. “You and your siblings?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They came to our house.” Diego’s eyes flared with anger, before it was quickly replaced with something more solemn. “My mum...she…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori vaguely recalled him mentioning the programmed robot called Grace who had been more of a caregiver to the Hargreeves children than Reginald. Diego had been particularly close with her, because Tori remembered he’d always spoken about her with fondness. To Diego, she was as good as his flesh and blood mother.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to her?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego swallowed the lump in his throat, his eyes downcast. “She’s gone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was such a gentle word for such a violent thing. Tori remembered when Celine and Giulian had been ‘gone’. It had torn through her like a knife, the wounds never having completely healed. She rested a tentative hand on Diego’s shoulder, knowing he could easily choose to shrug her off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who were they?” she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t know.” There was a darkness in Diego’s eyes, a tense set to his jaw. “But I intend to find out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori wanted to offer her help, but she feared rejection. There was one man she could think of who knew the criminal network like the back of his hand, who could have orchestrated this from even behind bars. Perhaps he hadn’t caused Reginald’s death, but he could certainly have benefitted from it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fabrizio,” she murmured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diego tossed the apple core into the bin. “Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Tori spun to face him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I get that you hate your step-dad. I know what happened with Celine and Giulian...it wasn’t easy. I know he’s the person you blame for it all. I’m not saying you’re wrong to. But you suspected he had Reginald killed and he didn’t. What makes you think he’s behind this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He could know something,” Tori said defensively. She hated the fact that Diego was right - she was looking too far into this. When Number Two had a goddamn point, she knew things were messed up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or he could be innocent in this.” Diego leaned against the kitchen bench. “He’s problematic, but even Fabrizio isn’t that good. He can’t be involved in everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori picked up her coat from the rack and retrieved her handbag from the coffee table. She knew that Jillian would be curious as to what she was doing. Hopefully, her friend thought she was just out to get laid. She figured she’d flick a text to Jillian later. She dangled her keys from her fingers, raising her eyebrows expectantly at Diego.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s only one way to find out.”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ten years ago</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been obvious to Tori for some time now that Giulian found her attractive. Her pheromone manipulation worked on him the same way it did on Diego - he wanted her. They’d kissed a few times as teenagers, but it had never gone beyond that. Since she’d had sex with Diego, Tori realised maybe she wanted it to go further with Giulian. After all, she couldn’t exactly just go fucking her enemy...could she?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anyway, so that was how she wound up on the couch in her apartment, squirming around in Giulian’s lap with her shirt off and his hand up her skirt. Tori wasn’t stupid. Giulian had wanted this for a while now. It had been on the cards since an ill-timed hook-up that had been her first kiss. But she wasn’t a kid anymore. She was twenty, and he was three years older. She knew exactly what she was doing when she fisted her hands in his hair and left a hickey on his neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giulian slipped a finger into her panties and tugged them down, and Tori’s fingers nimbly worked at undoing his jeans, yanking them and his boxers down. She wasn’t a patient person, and she wasn’t in the mood for teasing. Fortunately Giulian felt likewise, his eyes dark with lust as he watched her settle herself over him and sink down onto his cock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori bit down on her lip as Giulian’s hands settled on her hips. She rocked her hips slowly, savouring the feeling of being on top. Giulian let his head fall back, groaning. He raised his hands to fondle her breasts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori gripped the back of the couch for leverage as she rode Giulian, tilting her head back as pleasure buzzed through her body. Giulian’s hands and lips were all over her, his hips rocking up to meet her movements.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tori…” His voice was low and hoarse. “Fuck.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her moans increased in volume as she felt herself growing closer to climax. Giulian raked his fingers through her hair, his hand descending so his fingers settled around her neck. If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend he was Diego - but that was a dangerous line of thought, so Tori kept her eyes open and focused on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori cried out as she reached her orgasm, her entire body shuddering as a buzz of warmth came over her. Giulian followed moments later with a grunt, his face in her hair and his lips brushing her neck. She could feel his hot breath on her skin. After a moment, Tori climbed off him, tugging her clothes back on. She was aware of Giulian’s appreciative gaze on her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was I your first?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” she admitted with a scoff. Did he really think she’d ride him like that if it was her first time and she didn’t know what she was doing?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who was?” Giulian questioned, curiosity colouring his tone. She couldn’t blame him - they had always been the youngest of Fabrizio’s gang. He’d have known if she’d had sex with one of the older guys. Maybe he thought it was one of Celine’s trashy frat boy friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It doesn’t matter now.” Tori knew that talking about Diego would completely shift the mood. She smoothed her hair back, and Giulian knew her well enough to drop the topic. He was convenient - he was there when she needed him, and she could count on him not to betray her. After all, he was starry-eyed over Fabrizio, so of course Giulian wouldn’t turn on his benefactor’s step-daughter.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Fabrizio was only permitted one visitor at a time, and Tori had made sure that Diego knew it would be her. He didn’t appear pleased about lingering in the foyer, but Tori was certain he’d spent enough time at various police stations. She couldn’t help but tremble as she sat across from Fabrizio, a thin plate of glass separating them. That was another reason she was glad Diego couldn’t accompany her - she didn’t want her sometimes-enemy to see how what she was reduced to in Fabrizio’s presence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The phone felt slippery against Tori’s fingers as she picked it up and pressed it to her ear, probably slick with sweat from a previous visitor. She tried not to think about it as her step-father settled into the chair across from her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Another visit?” Fabrizio smiled. “I must be lucky.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Save your breath,” Tori snapped, “I’m here because last night, the Hargreeves kids were attacked by a pair of assassins in masks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah.” Fabrizio leaned back in his chair, the plastic squeaking. “You think I had something to do with it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The mere suggestion now made Tori’s cheeks flare with heat. Diego was right - she’d been wrong to suspect that Fabrizio was behind everything. Her step-father had stopped trying to hurt her after Celine’s death had backfired. Since then, all he had been doing was in an attempt to make it up to her. But what could? What could ever possibly replace the best friend that Tori’s own fiance had killed?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what to think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is about Diego.” Fabrizio assessed her critically, lips curving upward in triumph when she made no attempt to deny it. “Do you love him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Tori said, a little too quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you care about him. More than you ever cared about Giulian.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Giulian was a piece of shit.” Tori clutched the phone tighter in her hand. “I didn’t see it back then, but he was.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fabrizio didn’t disagree with her. His expression was thoughtful, which gave Tori cause for concern. Her step-father thinking was always a dangerous thing. He tilted his head to the side and arched his eyebrow in the sort of disapproving expression that still made Tori squirm in her seat as an adult.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So do you think he cares about you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe.” Tori shrugged her shoulders, trying to seem nonchalant. “ I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does he know the truth?” Fabrizio asked, leaning forward with dark, glittering eyes. “The whole truth?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori’s entire body went cold, the phone slipping from her fingers and clattering loudly against the side of the booth as she dropped it. Fabrizio meant The Incident. Any words of retaliation choked up in her throat as she was transported, vividly and violently, into a memory she wished more than anything she could forget.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thirteen years ago</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It was during a raid on one of Fabrizio’s warehouses that Tori experienced her first kiss. It was also the day that Ben Hargreeves was killed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Umbrella Academy was constantly onto them, something that Tori had anticipated since her first run-in with them. In a way, their arrival filled her with a sense of excitement. They were her enemies, but they were the only people she knew who were like her. Unintended children with supernatural abilities, all born on the same date she was. Fabrizio took her eagerness as a hunger for violence, and he fuelled the fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whilst the older members of the gang battled the teenage superheroes outside the warehouse, Giulian and Tori had been instructed to remain inside as the last line of defence. Fabrizio kept a lot of weapons in this warehouse, and he wasn’t willing to give it up. Something Tori was always acutely aware of was that there were six of the Umbrella Academy, and only one of her. She was good, but she wasn’t that good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori remained on ground level among the crates, while Giulian had settled himself on a vantage point on the warehouse’s upper level. A soft scraping caught Tori’s attention, and she gripped her knife tightly and slipped behind one of the crates.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know someone’s there,” she cooed, “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least one of them was inside the warehouse. A girl with curly dark hair moved into view and Tori immediately recognised her as Allison. A sly smile played about the other girl’s lips and Tori went cold as she realised she had seconds to deal with what was going to happen next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None of the rumour shit.” Tori punched her in the throat, making Allison stagger. She recovered quickly, managing to retaliate by slapping Tori across the face. The impact made Tori stumble, but she spun and kicked. Allison crashed backwards over one of the crates and hit the ground hard. When Tori leaped over and landed in a crouch, she noticed that Allison was unconscious. Good, one less obstacle to contend with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A flicker of movement caught Tori’s eye. It was Ben who stepped out from behind the crates, causing Tori’s stomach to twist. She had witnessed Ben’s horrifying powers many times, the tentacles that sprouted from him to wreak destruction. She bit her lip and took a few steps back, holding her hands up in surrender as she watched those freaky tentacles lash out in all directions. They’d grabbed a hold of her once and thrown her against a wall, and she never wanted them to touch her again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Over Ben’s shoulder, she caught a flicker of movement. Giulian had climbed onto the railing with a gun in his hand, and Tori realised what was going to happen as he raised it and pulled the trigger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she cried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too late. The sound of the gunshot ripped through the air and Ben hit the ground hard. Peering over him, Tori pressed her hands over her mouth to see a gaping bullet wound in his head. He’d died instantly. Scarlet liquid spread out across the concrete. In the dim light of the warehouse, his unseeing dark eyes glimmered. His last expression was frozen on his face - complete and utter shock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A scream tore its way up from Tori’s throat, and it wouldn’t stop, resonating throughout the warehouse. Whatever she’d thought would happen, it wasn’t this. Ben was just a kid like her. He was just a fucking kid, and now he was dead. She heard Giulian’s footsteps thudding down the metal stairs, but she was too focused on what they’d done. The Umbrella Academy had always been her deadliest enemies. She’d never thought it might come down to this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori knelt down beside Ben, looking him over as though there was some chance he could have survived. This couldn’t be happening. When she stared down at her shaking hands, they were covered in blood. Giulian ran over to her and stood over Ben’s corpse, his eyes wide as though even he hadn’t expected his actions to have such a consequence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Tori looked up from Ben’s body, she saw that Allison had risen from the ground, backing away with horror and grief etched across her face. Tori wanted to call out to her, but what the fuck was she going to say? Allison turned and fled the warehouse without another word. Tears blurred Tori’s vision as she reached down to gently close Ben’s eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tori rose to her feet, her entire body trembling and her hands stained with Ben’s blood. Her body was wracked with sobs although she didn’t really know why she was crying. She was constantly told that she was a villain. Shouldn’t that make her heartless? Shouldn’t that mean she was a monster?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I saved you,” Giulian insisted, kissing the top of Tori’s head as she sobbed. “I saved you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He wasn’t going to kill me,” Tori choked out. She knew it was the last thing Giulian wanted to hear, but it was the truth. Ben had died for nothing. He had died because Giulian had been scared and hadn’t known how to act. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giulian took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. She could taste the metallic tang of blood and the salt of her tears on his lips. She kissed back, wrapping her arms around Giulian, desperate to feel anything but devastation. Deep down, she knew Ben was the enemy, but that didn’t matter. He hadn’t deserved to die like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giulian’s lips trailed down her neck as he tugged her body flush against him. Tori supposed it was meant to feel good, but she didn’t feel anything. Realising that she’d gone still in his arms, Giulian drew back to look at her, confusion contorting his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you not want me to kiss you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Giulian.” Tori’s voice broke, because the question was so ridiculous. She’d be a fool not to realise Giulian wanted her, but to him that was all this was about. Tori couldn’t help but cry again and as Giulian held her close, she stared down at Ben’s corpse, unable to tear her eyes away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ben’s blood stained her hands. It was splattered across her face. Her shower later that afternoon lasted almost an hour, and despite scrubbing her skin raw, she could still feel it on her. She remembered Ben’s wide, horrified eyes, forever still. He was her enemy, but it wasn’t right. She wished she’d had the time to tell him that she was sorry, but it had all happened so fast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Giulian had just been trying to protect her, as if she wasn’t the one with powers, as if she was the one who needed protecting. He hadn’t killed Ben out of malice. He’d done it out of self-preservation, out of a misguided need to save a girl who’d never needed him to save her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was only years later that Tori realised something - Allison had clearly never told anyone what she saw in that warehouse.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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